The summer holidays will be completed in Duval County, and the new school year is just around the corner, with lessons that start on 11 August for public students in Jacksonville.
While families are preparing for the first day of school, Florida's back-to-school tax holiday is in full swing and offers savings on supplies until the end of the month.
One question remains for parents and children: can students bring their phones to school?
Short answer: Rules vary per school district in Florida. Students are not allowed to use them and whether they can bring them to school at all depends on the local policy. This is what Duval County says.
What does the new law in Florida say about bringing telephones to school?
According to a new law in Florida that came into effect on July 1:
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Elementary and high school students will not be allowed to do that usage Wireless devices such as smartphones, tablets or smartwatches at any time during the school day (“Bell to Bell”).
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High school students are forbidden to use them in the classroom or other instruction times, unless the teacher is explicitly told and then only in a designated area.
Individual districts can apply their own rules for telephone use, in addition to the State Act. The law does not say that students are not allowed to have telephones, just that they are not allowed to use them.
What does Duval County say about bringing telephones to school?
This year Duval County has to release the student code or code of conduct from 2025-2026.
According to the Code of Conduct of 2024-2025, however, changes were made on 7 August 2024 last year, as a result of which the phones are no longer allowed in the pockets of students, which marks a stricter shift from the previous policy that made phones in bags as long as they were switched off and hidden.
Since last year's change (2024): Duval County -Students, mobile phones and other wireless devices – such as smartwatches and earplugs – have to keep off – out of sight and stored in a bag or bag during class, unless authorized by the director/designalie or teacher.
The policy remains current today until further updates are made when the student code or code of conduct this year is released the 2025-2026.
What happens in Duval County students break the telephone policy?
Although the Code of Conduct of 2025–26 has not yet been released, the Code of Conduct of 2024-2025 states that violation of the school policy can lead to confiscation and that the device is only released to the parent/guardian of student based on the discipline matrix. Progressive discipline applies to repeated violations.
The code for the policy of behavior also states that “it is expected that parents/guardians will only contact students through the school office during school.”
Which students are exempt from the new school restrictions from Florida?
Exemptions are included for students with medical requirements for the use of a wireless communication device “based on valid clinical reasoning or evidence.”
Why did Florida want to prohibit the telephone use of students?
The new law comes when different states and districts look at the prohibition of phones at schools.
In 2023, Florida became the first state to limit the use of mobile phones of students during class. Indiana and Ohio followed quickly. In April Iowa signed Gov. Kim Reynolds a law that is comparable to the current rules of Florida, and New York added a call-to-bell prohibition for K-12 schools as part of an agreement on its state budget. Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs, however, spoke Veto about a telephone ban last year, and said that schools were already bypassing the problem alone.
The prohibition is intended to reduce distractions at school and any use of telephones for illegal activities, bullying, intimidation, threatening, cheating or displaying images or displaying a student during a medical problem or “misconduct”.
The bill also called for a pilot program to test the ban on high school students during the entire school day in six provinces.
An analysis by Pew Research Center from 2023 showed that 72% of the high school teachers studied said that phones in class distract students, although 70% of students aged 13-17 said that telephone use was more positive and 45% said smartphones helped them at school. Almost a quarter of the teenagers surveyed said that phones made learning more difficult and 30% noticed no difference.
Critics of the law say that a total prohibition endangers children by leaving them without a source of communication during emergency situations, such as shootings at school, and prevents students from taking video of bullying at school or incorrect action by teachers or safety officers in the school.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Duval students are confronted with a new school year without phones under New FL Law
